Join us on May 24 from 6:30-8:30 pm for a Mongabay / Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event held at the Patagonia store in Palo Alto. The event will feature a conversation with Robin Martin and Greg Asner about cutting-edge conservation technology. Robin Martin and Greg Asner have pioneered the use of advanced LiDAR and spectrometer sensors to study tropical forest ecosystems, revealing information about biodiversity, habitat function and health, and ecosystem services. Their work has been widely profiled by the likes of Science Magazine, National Geographic, and hundreds of other outlets. They’ve now turned their system to coral reefs, which may support the development of the first comprehensive global reef monitoring system in an era when the world’s corals are deeply threatened by rising temperatures, growing carbon emissions, and unsustainable fishing and...

Join us on April 5 from 6-8:30 pm for a Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event held at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University. The event will focus on jaguar conservation in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina, a dry tropical forest ecosystem that is fast being destroyed for industrial ranches and farms. Anthony Giordano of S.P.E.C.I.E.S and the Chaco Jaguar Conservation Project will discuss efforts to protect jaguars and their habitat. The Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina is disappearing faster than any other habitat on earth, including the Amazon Rainforest. Rapid deforestation due to unsustainable cattle-ranching is fragmenting the last frontier of jaguars, causing conflict between the predators and people as their natural prey vanishes. By building trust and solving the growing conflict...

On January 10th, 2018 BATFN is co-hosting an event with The Orangutan Project at The Foster art gallery in Palo Alto. The event will feature The Orangutan Project’s Founder and President Leif Cocks, who has worked with orangutans for over 30 years and has dedicated his life to re-introducing captive and orphaned orangutans into the wild. Cocks, who also recently authored Orangutans My Cousins, My Friends, will speak about the plight of orangutans and his plan for saving great red apes from extinction. Cocks will be joined by Gary L. Shapiro, Co-Founder of The Orangutan Project and the head of The Orangutan Project-US and Orang Utan Republik. Shapiro has spent more than 40 years working with orangutans. The Foster gallery features the works of Tony Foster, a watercolor artist who has traveled the world to capture the beauty and wonder of nature through watercolor paintings. Tickets are...

Join us November 13 from 6:30-8:30 pm for a special event co-hosted by the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN), Mongabay and The Foster, watercolor artist Tony Foster’s beautiful art gallery in Palo Alto. Our guest speaker is Zuzana Burivalova, a Princeton ecologist who specializes in tropical forest conservation and bioacoustic monitoring of forest ecosystems. For the past nine months, Burivalova has served as the research lead for a Mongabay project that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of several popular conservation interventions. Burivalova is now producing a series of featured articles in collaboration with Mongabay journalists. In her presentation, she will speak about her conservation effectiveness findings and methodology. Her remarks will be followed by discussion. Guests will also be able to view Tony Foster’s landscape watercolors, which are wonderfully...

There is an accelerating effort among scientists, forest and wildlife managers as well as technologists and interest groups from NASA, Google and the Jane Goodall Institute to harness new technologies. These technologies, which include satellite sensors, drones, camera traps and DNA detectors, can be used to improve and maintain forest and wildlife conservation; fight and expose illegal, unsustainable practices; and prevent the use of dangerous fuels and chemicals. Our panel will discuss what is new and what is working in this area. They will also discuss what 21st century technology might soon be available to protect and create healthy and safe environments in the Bay Area and throughout the world. SPEAKERS Rhett Butler Founder and CEO, Mongabay Topher White Founder and CEO, Rainforest Connection Crystal Davis Director, Global Forest Watch Virgil Zetterlind Director, Protected Seas;...

Join us on May 24 from 6-8:30 pm for a Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event held at the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University. Six indigenous leaders from the Tiriyo, Xavante, Makushi, Shuar and Kaxinawa Peoples of the Amazon region of Brazil, Guyana and Ecuador will discuss how environmental concerns, biodiversity conservation, climate change concerns and natural resource use intersect with indigenous culture, spirituality, development, politics and land rights. Also participating in the discussion will be Dr. Robert Miller, a Brazilian representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP-GEF) and a consultant and the technical Coordinator of the GATI (Indigenous Environmental and Territorial Management) Project in Brazil. This presentation for BATFN forms part of a larger Amazonian Indigenous People and Native American Summit being held at Stanford...

About BATFN

BATFN is an informal social network in the Bay Area broadly interested in tropical forest conservation and ecology. We gather monthly, typically for a happy hour beverage in the Peninsula area. The event is free and we provide snacks and drinks. Think Green Drinks but with a focus on forests.

Our goal is to foster peer-to-peer networking in a relaxed atmosphere where ideas, data, and collaboration flow freely. This is a great opportunity to connect with media, scientists, economists, foundations, activists, artists and many others thinking about these issues. Everyone is welcome! It is a great way to get in touch with other people working on similar interests or to learn more about current issues and initiatives in forest conservation.